Its been said before, but
by thelandofthenutty
Summary: It’s a flight to Hawaii?” “No.” “Its not?” “No it is not. Its two flights to Hawaii.” Sam is back. D/J


**A/N: I just cant stop post eping for transition. It makes me too happy, that episode. And it doesn't have nearly enough in it. Hence the third. **

Josh sat in the office for a long while. He sat there, the room silent, but his head buzzing. Sam had gotten to him. He knew that if anyone could, it was going to be him. Sam or Donna; and Donna didn't seem to be in the business of ensuring his head didn't explode these days.

There were muted sounds outside the office- in the bullpen. He could hear Sam issuing directives, and he felt himself grin. This was what he was meant to do. As great as he had been as the deputy speech writer, as Josh's best friend, and as an attorney, this was the job he was made to do. This, and one other. But that would be left for a few years to come.

He seemed to have it under control. He could hear him making Rhona laugh, and relaxed a little. Perhaps Sam was just the person to keep him human.

But he couldn't do it on his own. He knew what it was that had made him crack this afternoon, and it had nothing to do with the job. Ok, it had a lot to do with the job, but the straw that broke the other thing was to do with something else entirely- Donna, telling him that they wouldn't be working together anymore. He knew that it couldn't happen, and it wasn't that the though hadn't crossed him mind, but to think that he may loose her both personally and professionally, again, was too much for him. He knew how hard it had been the first time around, and to do that again, now, when he was so close to everything he had ever wanted...

Josh sat up, suddenly, and, making a decision. He reached for the keyboard, and began to scramble his fingers across it. It wasn't until ten minutes later that he emerged.

"What's this?" Sam asked, disapprovingly, as Josh handed him the sheets of paper that he had had the computer spill out. Sam wasn't looking at Josh's face. If he had been, he would have seen the broad grin, and this apologetic look in his eye, and known that it wasn't work of any sort.

"You wrote a memo? After that?"

"It's not a memo Sam."

"Well then what is it?"

"Read it."

"...It's a flight to Hawaii?"

"No."

"Its not?"

"No it is not. Its two flights to Hawaii."

"You're inviting me to Hawaii."

"Why would I do that?"

"This is what I'm saying."

"No Sam, the other ticket isn't for you. Point is, I'm leaving. But that means your staying."

"I'm glad to hear it Josh."

"But?"

"But who's the other ticket for?"

Josh gave him a grin, but said nothing.

"I will have to tell the President Elect, apologise to Otto, and then go pack."

"Yes you will, right now, right after you tell me who-"

"You seem to be fine here already; you'll be great for a week. If you want to reach me, you probably cant."

"That's a good thing. So Josh-"

"...And someone will have to be lined up to help out the First Lady Elect while her Chief of Staff is AWOL."  
"Josh who are you-wait."

"…Because she won't leave unless I already have someone lined up, she wont want to be unprofessional, because god forbid we should forgo professionalism now. As if that ship hadn't already-"

"Josh whose Helen Santos's Chief of Staff?"

"And make sure that you don't make any major appointments while I gone! I don't want to be hearing about the Secretary of State on CNN. Not that I'll be aloud to watch CNN."

"Josh-"

"Sam?"

"Who's going to be the Chief of Staff to the First Lady?"

Josh, unable to avoid Sam for any longer, met his eye.

"Donna."

"Donna?"

"Yes."

"And she will be AWOL for how long?"

"A week. Hopefully."

"Josh!"

"Sam don't get all-"

"You finally did it!"

"Sam, see this is why I beat around the-"

"Look everyone, our Mr Lyman is a man!"

"Sam, put my arm down, and don't let the staff know you're insane until at least a week into the job."

"Josh, seriously, I know it's been said before, but the two of you-"

"It's been said before?"

"Maybe not to your face."

"Right. Of course. God forbid we clue them in!"

"It was more interesting this way."

"You think she'll come?"

"You think I want to dance on top of this table right now?"

"I want to say no..."

"Or course she'll go with you Josh, a week in Hawaii without news or phones? Isn't that the dream? I mean, for her. To you its utterly terrifying."

"That it is."

"You and Donna as Chief of Staff. I like it."

"So do I."

"I called dibs on godfather by the way. Toby pretended not to be mad, but I know he was. CJs got dibs on the godmother, but that was just too easy, she's the only woman for crying out-"

"Sam!"

"Yeah. Right. Sorry. Focus on getting her to Hawaii first. In my own defence, you were the one who was complaining that we never clued you in!"

"Maybe ignorance was the healthier option."

"And I'll give you a call about the- CJ you will never guess who is standing in the middle of the office right now...mhmm...he looks pretty good, answers to Spanky..."

"I don't answer to Spanky." Sam interjected, although he didn't turn around, and a broad grin had slid to the edges of his face as he heard Donna approach behind him.

"Uh huh...I'll call you later. Bye."

Snapping her phone shut, Donna finished approaching the men, and wrapped her arms around Sam, who was grinning like an idiot.

"Oh so he remembers the fact that planes fly to DC!"

"I get the inference, sorry for the lack of..."

"Visits, emails?"

"We emailed!"

"Yeah...like, twice."

"Phone calls."

"Alright. You've been pretty good. Now are you here to stay?"

"Well that really depends on something."

"He is." Josh added, speaking for the first time. Donna gave him an almost shy smile. She was scared. He had been so wound up earlier, and then there was his assertion that he wouldn't be able to work out what they had in four weeks. It was scaring her a little. She shouldn't have put the ultimatum out there. She should have been patient. What were they if not patient?

"I am."

"Sam you have a weird smile on your face. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine Donna. Things have changed over here."

"How so?"  
Josh took the chance to shoot daggers at his friend.

"Well, for one thing, they're no longer using Styrofoam cups in the mess. There actually mugs now. Classy."

"Right."

"I'm going to leave the two of you alone now."

"I'm really glad your back Sam."

"Really glad to be back." He said, hugging her again. Sam waited until her back was fully turned before giving Josh a big thumbs up.

"So...when I said that I wasn't going to be able to...you know, in...well, you know."

Donna was giving Josh a weird look now. Her eyebrow was quirked and her lips were curved into a somewhat worried smile.

"Well I may have been a little hasty. I need to...Sam told me that...well, it seemed the day of the ultimatum. It really should be a national holiday. First thing we do when we get into office actually." Josh chuckled to himself, and then, seeing the concern at his lack of humour on Donna's face, fell silent.

"Donna, I'm going to Hawaii."

Whatever Donna Moss had been expecting at that moment, this had not been it. She stammered for a moment, before laughing.

"Is this why Sam was laughing earlier? He knew you were planning a joke?"

"Its not a joke."

"You don't do Hawaii Josh. Not in the middle of transition, not ev- what's this?"

"Its your plane ticket."

Donna's hand moved up to her mouth, and her eyes welled up with tears.

"My what?"

"Its your flight, to Hawaii. For tonight. If you'll...I mean, only if you want to..."

Donna looked back up at him, and he was relieved to see there was a smile on her face.

"Where did you two get the fake tickets?"

"Donna! They're real tickets! How many years did you bug me about taking you to Hawaii?!"

Donna looked from Josh's face, dead pan, to the paper in her hands, and then up again, before realisation dawned.

"Oh dear god these are real tickets. This is a real flight."

"And here we have it, ladies and gentlemen, the quickest mind in the District of Columbia."

"Josh are you sure..."

"Donna I can't go without you. I can barely function without you there. Ask anyone. Rhonna, Lou, the president elect- how we won the primary is beyond me. It wasn't the four weeks that had me stumped. It was finding out a way to say it without freaking myself out!"

Donna looked, again, as though she were about to cry.

"You're serious."

"Yes."

"You're going to Hawaii."

"Yes."

"I need to go talk to Mrs Santos."

"Yes you do."

"I need to pack a bag."

"I need to pack a bag."

"I need to re pack the bag you pack."

"Hey!"

"Come on Josh, it's the natural order of things."

"Apparently."

"What?"

"Ask Sam about it later. We've got packing to do."

**A/N: they're so pointless, and yet I cant sleep till they're typed. **

**Review? Toodles, Jess x**


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